Time passed moment by moment. From morning until now, the afternoon, Feng Jiu’er had not taken in a single drop of water.

Had she known it would come to this, she should have sat down and filled her stomach the moment she returned to her courtyard that morning, without a word.

Why had she wasted so much time suspecting Yanu, and in doing so, also wasted all that wonderful food Yanu had prepared for her?

Thinking about the roasted chicken Yanu had brought her back then… oh, she was famished, so hungry her stomach was on the verge of cramping.

After some unknown stretch of time, the meal delivery finally came — but when Jiu’er looked, it was nothing but spoiled, stale mantou buns. Her appetite vanished instantly.

“What are you staring at? Too good for it, are you? If you’re too good for it, don’t eat then! Go without food every day from here on — see if you starve to death!”

The warden’s tone was sharp and menacing.

This warden — she couldn’t tell whether he was always this ill-tempered, or if today was something special. Why did he seem to be directing such particular hostility at her?

Watching him toss food into the neighboring cell with the same rough, careless movements, Feng Jiu’er let her gaze sweep across him for a moment, then smiled faintly.

“Mister Warden, do your legs and feet ache frequently — the kind that hurts so badly it can’t even straighten out whenever the wind blows or rain falls?”

The warden paused. He turned to look at her, his face fierce. “What business is that of yours, you vile woman?”

Ugly as that, and she still wanted to chat and make conversation with him? Didn’t she have a mirror to look into and see what sort of wretched creature she was?

Feng Jiu’er felt somewhat helpless. The most instinctive judgment a man made about a woman was her appearance. If she were a beauty, every word she said would seem pleasing to him; if she were homely, even speaking at all would make him think she had foul breath.

She fixed her gaze on his knees and shrugged. “There should be rain tonight. Your legs must be aching already by now.”

Before the warden could launch into a tirade of insults, she said: “I can make your pain temporarily disappear. The reward is one plump, savory roasted chicken.”

The warden had not intended to pay her any mind, but reaching down to touch his knees, they did ache in a way that was genuinely unbearable.

It was partly why he had been so irritable today — the pain was simply maddening.

He thought it over, furrowing his brow, a note of skepticism in his voice: “What gives you the right?”

“I know a folk remedy. Half a stick of incense’s time and it’ll be done. Would you like to try?”

The warden still refused to believe it, yet his legs and feet truly, genuinely ached…

“If you can’t cure it, this old man will kill you!”

…

Half a shichen later, Feng Jiu’er sat in a chair, eating a plump and savory roasted chicken and drinking what was said to be spring water — she could not have been more content.

“Ninth Miss, take a look at my wrist. I don’t know what’s wrong with it, but whenever the wind blows or rain falls, it aches terribly too.”

One of the prison guards stood at Feng Jiu’er’s side, a fawning smile spread across his face. “Look — it’s aching and swollen right now, and medicine hasn’t helped at all. Ninth Miss, do you perhaps have a suitable folk remedy?”

Not only had she genuinely cured the warden’s leg pain, she had also treated A’Yang’s stomach ache — it had eased considerably almost immediately.

Homely as she may be in appearance, her techniques were truly wondrous, utterly extraordinary!

Feng Jiu’er cast a glance at his wrist, swallowed the piece of roasted chicken in her mouth, then said: “This is tendinitis.”

“Can it… be cured then?” What on earth was tendinitis? He had never heard of it before, but the name certainly sounded impressive!

“It can be cured, but…” She leaned closer, lowering her voice: “When you’re beating me tonight, could you make it look real but hold back?”

That so-called Crown Prince — if he had any true intention of coming, he would have come by now.

It was already evening, and less than three hours remained before the midnight hour. Feng Jiu’er had given up expecting him.

For now, she could only save herself. The guard was taken aback for a moment, then understood at once: “That’s no problem for me, as long as you can ease my pain. But — I’m just afraid Commander Zhang may come in person.”